A Long Time Comin'

This article is about the Electric Flag album. For similar uses, see Long Time Coming.

A Long Time Comin'
Studio album by The Electric Flag
Released	March 1968 (1968-03)
Recorded	July 1967 – January 1968
Genre	Soul [1] blues rock [1]
Length	41:05 (55:18 w/1988 CD bonus tracks)
Label	Columbia
Producer	John Court, Joe Church
The Electric Flag chronology
A Long Time Comin' (1968) An American Music Band (1968)

A Long Time Comin' is the first album by American rock band the Electric Flag, released in 1968. The album has a mix of musical styles, including soul along with blues and rock, with a horn section.

It opens with an updated take on the Howlin' Wolf blues classic "Killing Floor" and includes an adaptation of Sticks McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" titled "Wine". The album also contains "Groovin' Is Easy" and "Over-Lovin' You", which had been released as a single in 1967.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Rolling Stone	Positive [3]

It is widely seen by music critics as an ambitious debut album. The album was somewhat of a failure in the charts, much to the disappointment of Bloomfield, who had worked hard on it.^{[ citation needed ]} His disappointment was worsened by the success of the Al Kooper directed Super Session , which, featuring Bloomfield, charted much higher than A Long Time Comin' despite having been recorded over a period of only two days.^{[ citation needed ]}

It was voted number 4 in the 50 All-Time Long Forgotten Gems from Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . ^[4]

Track listing

The original LP record has 10 tracks, and a 1988 Columbia Records reissue on CD has four bonus tracks.

Side one

1. "Killing Floor" (Chester Burnett a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf) – 4:11
2. "Groovin' Is Easy" (Ron Polte) – 3:06
3. "Over-Lovin' You" (Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg) – 2:12
4. "She Should Have Just" (Ron Polte) – 5:03
5. "Wine" (Traditional arr. Bloomfield) – 3:15

Side two

1. "Texas" (Bloomfield, Buddy Miles) – 4:49
2. "Sittin' in Circles" (Goldberg) – 3:54
3. "You Don't Realize" (Bloomfield) – 4:56
4. "Another Country" (Polte) – 8:47
5. "Easy Rider" (Bloomfield) – 0:53

CD bonus tracks

11. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) – 4:02
12. "Mystery" (Miles) – 2:56
13. "Look into My Eyes" (Harvey Brooks, Miles) – 3:07
14. "Going Down Slow" (James Oden a.k.a. St. Louis Jimmy) – 4:43

Personnel

• Mike Bloomfield  – lead guitar, vocals
• Buddy Miles  – drums, vocals (3, 6, 8)
• Barry Goldberg  – keyboards
• Harvey Brooks  – bass
• Nick Gravenites  – vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9), guitar
• Herb Rich  – organ, vocals, baritone saxophone, guitar
• Michael Fonfara  – keyboards
• Marcus Doubleday – trumpet
• Peter Strazza – tenor saxophone
• Stemsy Hunter  – alto saxophone

Additional personnel

• Richie Havens  – percussion, sitar
• Sivuca  – guitar, percussion
• Paul Beaver  – keyboards, Moog synthesizer
• Leo Daruczek – strings
• Charles McCracken – strings
• Bobby Notkoff  – strings
• Julius Held – strings
• Roy Segal – engineer
• Jim Marshall  – cover photo
• Joe Church – percussion, producer
• John Court – percussion, vocals, producer
• Cass Elliot - vocal on "Groovin' Is Easy"

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1968	Billboard Top LPs	31

References

1. Viglione, Joe. "A Long Time Comin' Review". AllMusic . Retrieved December 16, 2021.
2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 912. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
3. Gifford, Barry (May 11, 1968). "Review: A Long Time Comin' ". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2012.(subscription required)
4. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 27. ISBN   0-7535-0493-6.